She's Crafty | Morse Code Jewelry

Next Thursday, July 10th at 2:00pm I will be doing a craft program at the Manteca branch! My first craft program ever. I'm pretty excited about this bit of business.

I was asked if I could come up with something crafty for teens as a part of the summer reading program. Wanting to stick with the theme of science, I tried to think of something a teen might like to make that still had some element of science involved. Then I remembered a program Kaye did at the Mountain House Branch a while back: Morse code jewelry.

You may find this surprising but, Morse code jewelry is not only a thing, it's a popular thing. Check out Etsy, an online "mall" of handcrafted items, and you'll find loads of listings. While you're poking around on the internet, take a peek at all the pins at Pinterest devoted to the myriad ways of translating Morse code into wearable art. Fun stuff!

The dits and dahs of Morse code

For those unfamiliar with Morse code, it is a form of communication that uses electrical signals sent over wires. At one end, a message is translated into a collection of dits (dots), dahs (dashes), and pauses and tapped out on a telegraph key. Each letter and number of the message has it's own unique combination of dits and dahs. At the other end, the signals are received and interpreted into the intended message and can be sent over large distances. It was a breakthrough in long-distance communication in 1836.

A telegraph key

Working the design out

When I thought about doing my own spin on creating Morse code jewelry I wanted something minimal and stylish. I wasn't ultimately concerned with the readability of the code. Who wants to actually sit there and stare at someone while decoding their jewelry? Nope, not gonna to happen. Talk about awkward! Then I started to hone in on the idea of hidden messages in jewelry. Hidden messages that will be talked about too. The pieces end up looking like they have specific meaning, that they aren't completely random, and that will catch interest.

"Do those necklaces mean something?"

"Why, yes they do! This one says, 'My patronus is a kitten,' and this one says, 'Okay? Okay.' Cool, huh?!"

The first prototypes for the program ended up being a pair of necklaces that states, "Hello beautiful." I decided to represent the dits with one bead of one color and dahs with three beads of a second color. At first I added beads in between the letters and I didn't like the look. And this is the point at which I went for style over readability and chose to run all the letters of one word together. Looking back, I may go back to adding beads between the letters since I forgot what one prototype bracelet says and had trouble deciphering the code!

Hello beautiful!

This may be my first craft program and I might be quite nervous, that's just the type of person I am, but I think we're going to have fun! I want to provide enough instruction so anyone regardless of their experience with making jewelry can feel confident in their end product but also give participants freedom to play with representing the code. I hope it will be fun and interesting for all involved!

For now, I'm off to make informative handouts, yay!

Malia & Kaye

She's Crafty | He's Crafty

We're all crafty!

So, funny story:

At work one day I was straightening the NEW book shelf when I came across, Made by Dad: 67 Blueprints for Making Cool Stuff by Scott Bedford. I thought, "Duct tape on the spine, it's gotta be cool. Annnd, it'll make a nice blog!" But I left it for another time. Later that very day my mother excitedly presented me with Made by Dad and said, "We gotta blog about this one!"

It was meant to be.

We know plenty of crafty dudes and I'm sure some of you out there know a few too. They're everywhere!

Check out, Men Who Knit. A website devoted to promoting and supporting men who knit. And Mark Montano's Make Your Mark! videos on YouTube are my absolute favorites to watch. We also carry some of his books at our library. He has one of the most fun and fertile imaginations out there.

Of course I know a few male crafters personally too. My dad taught me everything I know and love about knots, which has helped me in many crafting areas. Dad also taught me the craft of splicing wires and got me hooked on the art of collage.

When I first spied Made by Dad I thought of a friend of mine. Dustin's one of the craftiest people I know. He's a blacksmith, does some great embroidery and he sews out of necessity and fun - in fact he's the one who taught me how to turn a pair of normal pants into bell bottoms! And he loves to get crafty with his daughters. He is definitely the perfect target audience for this book.

But so am I. And anyone else who loves to build fun, sometimes gross, but always kooky stuff.

Like this...pair?...of Rock, Paper, Scissors dice I made to quickly end disputes of where to eat out or who gets the last cookie. Users just choose a color and the dice do all the work.

Scissors cut paper. That cookie is MINE!

The projects in the book are leveled from Easy to Tricky. Zen Napkins is probably the easiest. Create simple circles and lines around coffee-shop treat crumbs much like a Zen garden and you're done.

Kaye is getting fancy with her garden in the background.

The Tricky projects are definitely harder but between the detailed blueprints with awesome illustrations and the step-by-step instructions even the Tricky projects seem extremely do-able.

With your brain box and these blueprints, nothing
will stand in your way.

Overall, I love this book. It is crammed full of practical jokes, games, and handmade gifts. I found the instructions easy to follow and the blueprints to be the most helpful guides in a crafting book I've ever come across. So, Dads (or uncles, grandpas, cousins, big brothers, mothers, aunts...), grab your rulers and glue and your nearest kid (or fly solo) and get crafting.

Before I go, I wanted to mention that we will be taking a little trip to the East Bay Mini Maker Faire later this month. On October 20th, Park Day School in Oakland will be hosting a celebration of creativity and learning with hands-on and hand-made fun. I'm sure it will be a blast and can't wait to share our first Mini Maker adventure with you.

Until then, stay crafty!
~Malia

She's Crafty | Nice to Meet You...

Did you hear that? We're cute!

Hello, I'm Kaye and I'm the mother half of this mother-daughter duo. You will be hearing from one or the other, or both of us every week about ALL things crafting...and maybe some other things too, sometimes, like art, which is not so other, really. It's all about being creative, useful, beautiful, joyous, cute, self-sufficient, expressive, and above all--fun! Which reminds me--how do you like our blog title? Cute huh? It sounds like a catchy song title to me...Say, who are the Beasty Boys?

I've been making things for as long as the daughter half can remember, and for almost as long as I can remember, which is a very long time--of course, I'm not going to tell you how long. Suffice it to say, I have lots to share with you about a fair number of crafts I've been learning and doing in all that time. Some of these are what you'd expect: Sewing, crocheting, knitting, embroidery. Some are a bit different: chain mail, beading, macrame, stained glass. And, there are always more crafts I want to learn--lamp-worked glass beads, spinning my own yarn, mosaics, making fancy paper. 

Chain mail necklace by Kaye

Oh! And the places we'll go: San Francisco's Renegade Craft Fair; a yarn bomb scavenger hunt; Sonora's Celtic Fair, where you can see a guy making chain mail armor from steel rings the way the Europeans did so long ago (you need strong hands for that!) Ah, crafting is history!

Squid Tree yarnbomb by Lorna and Jill Watt

The daughter and I have many crafting relatives and ancestors we look to for inspiration: The tinkering dad; handy brother; sewing sister, plus cousins, mom, aunts, and grandmas; musical grandkids & grandparents (music is art!); poetry writing other daughter (oh yes, writing too!) Then, there are the ancestors going farther back: Grandmothers & grandfathers into the great-great-greats who quilted, crocheted, knitted, fixed things and made them do. I could go on and on. And, I will! One week at a time. I hope you'll join us!

Now it's time to hear from the daughter half. She's going to keep us current; but she'll tell you her own story--hey daughter! It's your turn--

Hi, hello. Can you just excuse me a second...

Pssst, mom, it's the Beastie Boys.

...okay, on with the intro!

Malia here, the daughter half of She's Crafty. And, yes, ever since I could remember, arts and crafts have been a BIG part of our family. I grew up in a world of doilies and soft blankets, handmade hats and school clothes, and shelves upon shelves of do-it-yourself books.

As much as I loved being on the receiving end of some amazing heirlooms, my little kiddie hands couldn't wait to make their own mark. I practically begged my mom to teach me how to crochet! Ever since, I've been fascinated by all the wonderful things hands can make.

And make things I have! It's pretty much been a crafting free-for-all after I finished my first granny square. Some items great-great-grandma might recognize. Some others, not so much.

Tatted mask, feather mask, and mini-top hat by Malia.

Of course, I would not be the prolific crafter I am without the help of the library. In fact, I consider my library card just as important to my crafting endeavors as my favorite pair of purple-handled scissors. Seriously, peep at my bedside table and you will find at least one craft book I checked out from my local branch at any given time.

Check out my latest score from the library, Sweet Paper Crafts by Mollie Greene. Isn't it just the sweetest thing?! Makes me want to populate my desk with a flock of paper birds. Like, right now.

So, can you tell we love crafts? Now tell us, how much do you love being crafty?

Learning | Maker Faire, Part I

My family discovered the Bay Area Maker Faire a few years ago. I was so intrigued to hear my husband and teenage son rave about the 2011 event, that I decided to go with them in 2012. It was even bigger and better than they described.  

They had told me about the robots, and narrowly missing seeing Mythbusters star Adam Savage. (We listened to Adam Savage's presentation in 2012. He appeared in an Indiana Jones hat, and told a compelling story of a boy who liked to make his own props for imaginary play, then had a career in creating special effects for movies--which led to his phenomenal success on the Mythbusters television show.)

I expected to see robots everywhere, but I didn't expect to walk into a room full of R2-D2 replicas! Apparently, the cute little droid from Star Wars is one of the most popular subjects for amateur projects.

It seemed like everywhere I turned, there were people touting their 3-D printers, and talking about things to make with Arduino, a microcontroller that can be used for multiple purposes.  SSJCPL carries a title called Making Things Talk.  It's full of instructions for Arduino-based projects, like these:

• make a mat that tells you when your cat is sitting on it
• make a stuffed monkey talk
• make a simple electronic ping pong game.  

This book is published by the company that organizes the Maker Faire; it's affiliated with a magazine called Make:.

If you like do-it-yourself electronics projects, you might consider checking out some books from the Evil Genius Series. The publisher of this series had a booth at Maker Faire last year; one of the authors was there to autograph books. 

There are so many different kinds of creations and inventions at Maker Faire, that I am having trouble condensing it all into one blog post. One section is devoted to recycled objects and clothing--making something new out of something old. There are accessories and jewelry. Another section is devoted to growing food. And then there are the glowing sharks that seem to soar through the darkness in one pavilion. Families with children really seemed to enjoy the hands-on activities.  I was able to extract DNA from a strawberry at one table! There was an area where kids could learn (hands-on) all about how locks, keys and tumblers work.

One large section of the Faire is devoted to Steampunk.  This is a cultural movement that embraces science fiction concepts like time travel; it is both futuristic and anachronistic. I think it's really fun, but then, I'm a devoted Doctor Who fan. 1000 Steampunk Creations is loaded with pictures of contraptions, art, decor and fashion in the genre.  

The Maker Faire will be at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds on May 18-19, 2013.  Our family purchased our tickets months ago. Maybe I'll see you there.